Nguvu Dairy Limited, Northern Uganda

A Business Creating Jobs, Healing and Transformation

A Vision Realized

From 2016-2024, Nguvu Dairy Limited created jobs, providing healing and transformation in the lives of over 770 men and women. The business produced and sold yogurt, and 230 trauma healing group sessions were offered to employees. Nguvu, though, was more than a business in northern Uganda. It was a launching pad for young people rebuilding their lives, a stabilizing force in communities recovering from conflict, and a living demonstration of The Market Project’s commitment to build healing workplaces. While operations have ceased, the legacy of Nguvu Dairy continues in the lives of its former employees, the families they supported, and the model the business helped refine.

"For people threatened by violence, work becomes the anchor that holds them steady within their old world as a new one is being formed. ...Work not only gives survivors an opportunity to earn money and be productive, but also a concrete time and place where they must show up, a familiar cast of friends, … and an overall sense of purpose and value."

Richard Mollica, MD [Healing Invisible Wounds: Paths to Hope and Recovery in a Violent World]

Nguvu Dairy’s Mission

Supportive Community

Sustainable Work

Trauma Healing

Why Nguvu?

“Nguvu” means “strength” in Swahili — and that’s exactly what this venture offered: strength to communities, strength to youth, and strength to the emerging model of healing-centered employment. 

The vision articulated by its founders and investors was clear: “to see men and women find hope and flourish through dignity-affirming work in community-transforming, profitable businesses.”

Nguvu Dairy is not like a regular business. They really care for northern Uganda’s most vulnerable and help them learn to work.”

– School leader, Opit

Nguvu at a Glance

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  • Employees: Employees were average age of 22, most serving in their first formal job, as many as 200 were working at one time.
  • Skills Developed: Food production hygiene and packaging, sales, customer relations, milk testing and collection, time management, team leadership, bookkeeping, supportive team building, supply chain management, budget management.
  • Locations over the years: 14 towns across northern Uganda (Adjumani, Anaka, Bweyale, Cwero, Gulu, Kamdini, Kitgum, Lira, Masindi, Opit, Pabbo, Pader, Pakele and Pakwach).
  • Supply Chain: Milk purchased from as many as 30 farmers each week. All ingredients and packaging sourced from Uganda.
  • Ripple Effect: An average of 5 family members supported by each worker (32% were sole earners in the family, 44% were the primary earners); education fees paid; nutrition of workers and their families improved. Many applied skills learned to start their own business or move to positions with greater responsibility.

Trauma-Informed Work in Action

Nguvu’s model was centered on healing. Sixty-two percent (62%) reported high exposure to traumatic events in their lives. Employees didn’t just earn — they healed, grew and reconnected with their families and communities. Trauma healing programs were embedded into operations, helping employees develop resilience, build healthy relationships and reimagine their futures.

  • Holistic care and support offered weekly
  • Managers trained in trauma-informed supervision
  • Relational healing extended into employees’ homes and communities

“Before I had no hope… but trauma healing made me gain hope. I feel that my life is complete.”

– Salesperson, Lira

Economic Empowerment & Local Growth

Nguvu wasn’t just about yogurt. It was about self-sufficiency. Workers earned steady income while learning critical skills. Some paid for education–their own and their children’s school fees, others moved on to start their own businesses.

“Nguvu taught me how to be a manager… I’m now using those skills to run my own company.”
– Gulu-based Alumnus

“Nguvu is a family to me. I was addicted to alcohol for 15 years… I stopped. This company also taught me to save through the savings group. I’m now starting my own business.”
– Production Leader, Gulu

Voices from the Community

Lasting Lessons, Enduring Legacy

The impact Nguvu Dairy had individually and communally affirmed that The Market Project’s model of building a sustainable business, integrating trauma healing and fostering a supportive community leads to changed lives. These changes positively affect the next generation. Our Ten-Step Business Creation Framework — used to launch new ventures — was born out of lessons learned on the ground in Uganda.

“Nguvu Dairy has helped heal victims of trauma in a post-war region. It has helped restore the mental health of youth in northern Uganda.”
– External Accountant, Gulu

Where Are They Now?

Former employees include managers, entrepreneurs and community leaders. Their stories reveal a ripple effect of transformation that goes far beyond the job site.

Read Robert's Story

Thank You

Nguvu’s story wouldn’t have been possible without you — our local leaders, trainers, mentors, investors, donors and partners. You believed in this model when it was just an idea. You helped build something that changed lives.

What's Next

We’re taking the DNA of Nguvu — market-based, healing-centered, locally-rooted, sustainable — and applying it to new ventures. One example is BuildRight, a construction materials business in development, designed to create even more jobs across northern Uganda.

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